1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to providing intersection assistance to remind users of traffic rules, and more particularly, to using a portable electronic device to provide intersection assistance in order to remind users of traffic rules pertaining to a current geographical location when the users approach a traffic intersection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Global Positioning System (GPS) based navigation devices are well known and are widely employed as in-car navigation devices. Common functions of a navigation device include providing a map database for generating navigation instructions that are then shown on a display of the navigation device. These navigation devices are often mounted on or in the dashboard of a vehicle using a suction mount or other mounting means.
The term “navigation device” refers to a device that enables a user to navigate to a pre-defined destination. The device may have an internal system for receiving location data, such as a GPS receiver, or may merely be connectable to a receiver that can receive location data. The device may compute a route itself, or communicate with a remote server that computes the route and provides navigation information to the device, or a hybrid device in which the device itself and a remote server both play a role in the route computation process. Portable GPS navigation devices are not permanently integrated into a vehicle but instead are devices that can readily be mounted in or otherwise used inside a vehicle. Generally (but not necessarily), they are fully self-contained—i.e. include an internal GPS antenna, navigation software and maps and can hence plot and display a route to be taken.
Personal navigation devices strive to guide users on the best possible route in order to minimize the time needed to travel from one point to another. However with people traveling internationally now more than ever, providing navigation instructions with a navigation device is not always sufficient for helping the users to familiarize themselves with the traffic rules of a foreign country. When travelling abroad, traffic rules that exist in some countries can be quite different from the traffic rules in other countries. This can cause confusion for people visiting and driving in a different country, especially those that travel frequently or are first time visitors. In fact, traffic rules may even vary regionally within a country, such as in metropolitan areas like New York City, N.Y., in the United States of America.
While not knowing traffic rules can end up causing users to waste time unnecessarily in certain instances, it can be dangerous or deadly in other instances. For example, when travelling to a country that drives on the opposite side of the road, it is possible and quite easy for drivers to get mixed up on which side of the road to travel on when turning at intersections.
Therefore, there exists a need for reminding users about the traffic rules of a current geographical location when the users approach a traffic intersection.